Lessons In Futility
by Goddess of Swords
Summary: Carmilla tries her best to distract herself from Laura. Her best is not very good. Laura/Carmilla


Carmilla forced a smile. The girl in front of her was chattering excitedly, giggling at her own jokes and flipping her hair over her shoulder. A touch on the arm and a tilt of the head, and… _there_. Another one helpless to resist her. This was one of Carmilla's greatest skills, and one of the things that brought her the most joy. Ignoring Mother and her twisted plans, the dance of seduction with a beautiful young girl was Carmilla's ultimate pleasure.

It was like flying, she thought. Exhilarating and heady, but with that underlying vein of caution. One never knew when they might fall, after all.

Carmilla loved this game, truly she did, so _why_ was she unable to enjoy it? The girl she was with was putty in her hands. The right word combined with the right look would have her stripping right here in the library, but all Carmilla could think about was… No. She was not willing to acknowledge that.

The girl – Anne? Alana? Amy? Carmilla wasn't sure – let out another of her high-pitched giggles and Carmilla snapped. "Sorry, sweetheart, I just got an SOS from my roommate. I need to make sure she hasn't set fire to my bed again. I'll catch you later, okay?"

She was moving before the last words had died, deftly avoiding the hand that reached out to stop her. She didn't particularly care that she hadn't even bothered to take her phone from her pocket, and had likely mortally offended the girl. If she'd had to listen to any more of that vapid babbling, she didn't think she would have been able to stop herself from removing the other's vocal cords with her teeth.

Growling at herself, Carmilla stormed out of the library. She snarled at one of the archivists, regretting it almost instantly. She thought it might have snarled back, but the lack of a face beyond a single gaping maw made it difficult to tell. The archivists were one of the few people on campus she actively tried to avoid pissing off.

Everything about her was off. Her game, her instincts, even her thoughts. Every part of her was consumed by a steady stream of _Laura Laura Laura_ and there was nothing she could do about it. Even the girls weren't helping, and there had not been many things in her life that a beautiful girl or two couldn't fix, at least a little bit.

But Laura just wouldn't leave her alone.

The girl was in her head and Carmilla couldn't focus like this. She couldn't even snare the girls properly. This was unacceptable. She would just have to get over it. It wasn't like Laura was _that_ important. She couldn't possibly be.

How the _fuck_ had these infants managed to trap her? Oh, that's right, her traitorous jackass of a sibling. Carmilla entertained herself by imagining all the many and varied ways she would make him suffer before the door opening interrupted her thoughts.

In stepped the girl she had been dreaming about for the last three and a half weeks straight. Alone, for once. Carmilla was surprised she didn't have her pack of angry gingers with her. They seemed surprisingly resistant to the idea of leaving Laura alone with a starving vampire.

In any other case, they'd be right to, of course. However, in this case their precautions were unnecessary. Carmilla had admitted to herself weeks ago that she would never be able to hurt Laura. Her chores had stopped being easy around the same time. She felt guilt for luring the girls, a guilt that she had thought she had locked away centuries earlier. It seemed Laura was reawakening the human side of her, slowly but surely.

The girl in question dragged a stool over and sat down next to her, folding her hands primly in her lap. She wouldn't meet Carmilla's gaze, seemingly uncomfortable under her scrutiny. "So, _vampire_, have you reconsidered your absurdly stubborn stance?"

Carmilla wasn't sure what it was that got to her. Laura had been asking some variation of that same question for over a week now. Maybe it was the way the girl had sneered the word 'vampire', the scorn and disgust reminding her uncomfortably of Elle. Maybe it was how Laura wouldn't meet her eyes and continued to stare straight past her. Maybe it was just the lack of blood finally getting to her. Whichever it was, Carmilla snapped.

"I have a name, you know. I know you know it, too, I've heard you use it before." She glared at the shorter girl.

A flash of guilt flitted across Laura's face. Carmilla wasn't done, though. "And for your information I haven't killed or _kidnapped_ anyone. More girls have gone missing while I've been stuck here, right?" Laura looked surprised.

Carmilla rolled her eyes. "You and your merry band of morons really don't know how to whisper, cupcake. Also, can we get over this asinine 'pretending to torture the vampire' thing? You and I both know I could escape from this chair in a second."

Laura scooted her stool slightly away from Carmilla. The vampire could see her knuckles turning white from the force of her grip on the edge and could hear her heartbeat speed up. Out of nowhere Carmilla deflated. "I would never hurt you, Laura. Not you." She dropped her head, refusing to look at the human after that most embarrassing of confessions.

A hand under her chin surprised her, head jerking up in shock. Laura's face was suddenly _right there_, in her personal space and seeming very comfortable there. The other girl looked like she was searching for something, looking at Carmilla so intently it was as if she could see into her soul. The intensity of that gaze was unsettling and Carmilla tried to look away, but the hand kept her in place.

A decision appeared to have been reached. Laura pulled back slightly, but kept her grip on Carmilla's chin. "You really mean that, don't you?" She sounded slightly awed.

Carmilla sighed. "Yeah, I really do." She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Laura to start yelling for her gingers.

She was completely taken aback when soft lips pressed to her own. Her brain shut down entirely, discarding all nonessential functions to focus more fully on those lips. She strained forward against the ropes, trying to get closer to Laura, trying to feel more of her against her skin. She barely registered the crack of breaking wood, only noticing that she was able to move freely once more after she had encircled Laura in her arms and pulled her onto her lap.

Laura pulled back abruptly, looking around Carmilla wide-eyed. The chair was in ruins, both arms broken off, and the rope was shredded. She looked back at Carmilla. "You _really_ weren't kidding."

Carmilla winced. "No. Does that… does that freak you out?" She pulled back slightly, loosening her grip on the girl.

Unexpectedly Laura laughed. "Freak me out? A little." She pressed a quick kiss to Carmilla's lips when the vampire tried to pull back even farther. "But you know what? A little freaky is a good thing, I think. This I can deal with. I just got you where I want you, _vampire."_ She wiggled her eyebrows. "I'm not letting go just yet.


End file.
